Eng. 9 - Jan. 31

Read "Wish You Were Here"

Eng. 11 - Jan. 31

Complete questions # 1-7 for "Hills Like White Elephants"

Lit 12 - Jan. 30

Complete notes for Anglo Saxon Period

Define: hero, heroic epic, epic. kenning, caesura, scop

Find examples (and reasons for): allusion, 4 strong beats, elevated language

Lit 12 - Jan. 18

Complete "The Hollow Men," "Dulce et Decorum Est," and "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" for Monday's double block! (Best results for exam = practice)


THE ORDER: 1. Read the work
2. Question and Quote
3. Author Notes
4. Reread the Work
5. Text Questions
6. Poetic Devices

Studying for the Eng.11 Exam

Exam: D205 12:05

Final Exam:

editing - find the mistake in the sentences - study your editing sheets and your sentence corrections - class feedback for writing, apostrophe notes.

poetry - review poetic devices - make sure you understand page 4 of the poetry package - practice by going over poems we didn't study in the package - be familiar with all poetic devices

prose - review elements of short fiction (7 sets of notes)

writing - go over your essays, essay notes, essay package and writing improvements - make a note of my individual advice

get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy breakfast and/or lunch

Eng. 11 - Jan. 16

Prepare the following poems: "The Attitude," "My Father Knew," "Scaffolding," "Say Word," "Not Waving But Drowning" and "When I Was One and Twenty."

Make notes on the poems, identify any literary devices.

Answer the questions provided.

For the two poems with no questions, what is the deeper purpose of the poem? Ask one question and answer it.

Lit 12 - Jan. 12

Please type your personal essays. Hand in the peer editing sheets pertaining to you with your essays!

Lit 12 - Jan. 11

Topic # 3: It's Important to Learn from the Past

Poem: "Digging"

Writing 12 - Jan.10

For your interviews (Wed. 18/Thurs.19)

1. Portfolio
2. Portfolio Review
3. Commonplace Book
4. Your Choice Assignment


Wednesday Interviews:

1. Chris S
2. Annie
3. Jasmine
4. Zenzele
5. Emma
6. Claire
7. Chloe
8.


Thursday:

1. Dylan
2. Matt
3. Jared
4. Jared
5. Matthew B
6. Carter
7. Kullin
8. Sahar
9. Oscar
10. Sam
11. Chris
12.
13.Gwen
14.
15.
16.

*Kirk, Henry, Natalee, Hannah, Audrey

Lit 12 - Jan. 10

Topic #2: "Dreams Take Us on Journeys" - 40 minute write

Poem #2 "Channel Firing"

Fishbowl for Morality, Power, Betrayal and Loyalty

Goal of literary essay: "Looking at the text as a work of art, demonstrating clear critical judgment and explaining to the reader of your essay how the enjoyment of the text is assisted by literary devices, linguistic effects and psychological insights; showing how the text relates to the time when it was written and how it relates to our world today.

TIPS: look at individual feedback and class feedback, construct a quote sheet, come up with three different thesis statements - three points each

Power

- What does this play show us about power? - everything happens because of power - the witches' prophesy makes the Thane thirst for power - especially when Malcolm becomes The Prince of Cumberland
- [how do people change from power]
- ["power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton,
- Power without morality is not good - the Thane loses his morality - [look at I vii and compare to V v]
- Killing his best friend to keep future power - he's not even in danger of losing it
- Not good power: "give sleep to our nights; meat to our tables" (III iv)
- Play starts with Duncan - people like him (again, look at I vii soliloquy)
- What kind of power do the witches have - they could use their power for good, not bad
- Is the prophesy good or bad in and of itself?
- Power can be used in different ways [can compare Malcolm, Duncan and Macduff to the Thane]
- Later III vi - Hecate says the witches need to "fix their mistake"
- What about the Lady's quest for power (I v) - she calls on the devil to "make thick [her] blood" - she encourages her husband to kill in order for her to gain power [what is the effect? Does she enjoy her power?]
- Macduff always sees the truth "wherefore did you so?" (II iii)
- Macduff uses his power in a good way - he has morality with power
- Ambition for power…
- "if we should fail-" (I vii) - motivated to kill
- [what benefit did the Thane receive from power?]
- [power is seductive/ temptation]
- [why do people want power?]
- The Thane loses his morality to attain power
- [think of beginning of play questions - how much ambition is too much ambition?]
- [what do the Thane and the Lady lose from their blind desire for power?]
- I v 47-58 - Lady's speech "unsex me now" - willing to get rid of her femininity
- Lose their humanity
- In this play the Thane does receive power from the people (power with no support doesn't seem to work very well)
- Being the Thane of Cawdor is not enough - to keep the power he has to kill everyone he sees as a threat
- Power to know the future -
- "ill-gotten gains"
- Focus on how to keep the power
- Obsessed by prophesy
- To stay in power became paranoid (insomnia)
- Corrupts him to believe in the witches
- Used to think what would happen (I vii) then "I have forgot the taste of fears" (V v)

Morality

-what is morality?
- Goals - how does this connect?
- Example - Lady shows morality - III iv - the Thane doesn't tell her about murdering the Macduff household or Banquo
- Beginning of the play - Thane I vii - does not want to kill the king - 12 reasons
- The Thane's morality is dynamic - first - he questions - then it gets easier and easier "we still have judgment here" (I vii) - thinks of the repercussions of his actions
- Hiring murderers - is this even worse than killing people oneself
- Duncan promotes Malcolm (I iv) - the seed is in the Thane's head "a step I must o'erleap…"
- Starts off noble and loyal as introduced in I ii - reported by the sargeant
- Would the Thane have killed the king if he didn't know the prophesy? [does it matter? The prophesy symbolizes temptation - does it matter how bad thoughts come into our heads?]
- [what makes good people do bad things?]
- II ii - the Thane is afraid to look at what he has done - he cannot wash the blood from his hands - could not say "amen"
- [Lady goes from "a little water clears us of the deed"(II ii) to "all the Perfumes of Arabia could not get the smell of blood from these hands" (V i) ]
- Jealousy contributes to the Thane's downward spiral
- Only wants to keep the power once he kills
- No time or patience to think about his own morality once he has power
- "she would have died hereafter" (V v)
- Power changes people [can compare the Thane to Duncan - is he corrupt?]
- Lady becomes crazy - why?
- How Thane's morality changes throughout the play
- Compare and contrast Thane and Lady's morality
- [what about the way the Thane treats his servants in the end]

Betrayal vs Loyalty

- Play starts off with betrayal
- The Thane starts off as one of king's most loyal subject
- [is the Lady loyal throughout?]
- [What role does loyalty play in our lives?]
- Betrayal starts when the Thane kills the king
- The Lady starts with disloyalty right away
- If the Thane didn't want to do that - he would have stayed strong - temptation!
- Lady questions Thane's masculinity
- Strength of character
- [it takes strength of character to remain loyal]
- [fortitude]
- Real men have strength of character - stay strong - be the man [she tries to appeal to his manhood in III iv (banquet scene) - he ignores her]
- Saddest thing about betrayal is it never comes from your enemies [opposite of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"]
- [Malcolm and Donalbain: "the nearer in blood, the nearer bloody" (II iii)]
- [Thane is kin of Duncan]
- [does Macduff betray anyone? Does he betray his family? Is he a traitor]
- How does one achieve loyalty? - people loved Duncan - but both The Thane and Macdonwald betray him
- Duncan's judgment is poor
- Whole Scottish, English, Irish army against the Thane in the end
- Duncan says I iv 11 - there's no art in the mind's construction in the face" (he laments trusting Macdonwald)
- The witches betray the Thane
- The Thane is only loyal to himself
- How do the witches' deceive the Thane
- Who could the Thane trust?
- Hecate III v - wants the witches to deceive the Thane - look at the second set of prophecies?
- Thane can't trust anyone - has to kill everyone around him.

#Power corrupts #power without morality is bad (real life?), ambition #downfall of power #greed and power #good people do bad things - why #breaking morality gets easier #insanity and morality #guilt #greed #pride #temptation #consequences of lack of morality #loyalty is difficult # excuses # strength of character # fortitude #motivation and pride

Lit 12 - Jan. 9

Topic #1: "Simple Gifts Are the Best"
Poem: "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Lit Hamlet Fishbowls!

Morality

- Hamlet and his morals - to kill or not to kill
- Seeking revenge - is it moral
- Negatively? - doesn't do it because has no proof
- [look at the soliloquies]
- Wanted to avenge his father - thought it was his duty
- Getting Claudius to confess was important
- His morals clashed - sense of duty vs. morals (church0
- ["Just Lather, That's All"]
- Hamlet's Christian morals: "thou shalt not kill" - how much do we know that he adheres to Christian morals (talks about Heaven, wants Claudius to go to Hell) "killed my father full of bread"
- Does Hamlet care about being a good person? ["what is a man if he just sleeps and eats" - paraphrase from Soliloquy 7]
- How does the play treat suicide [the clowns talk about this] - should Ophelia have a Christian burial
- Gertrude, Claudius' morality? [could focus on character]
- [narrow down a philosophical point]
- What about Ophelia possibly not being "chaste"?
- Hamlet and Ophelia possibly had premarital sex - pick and choose what's morality
- [compare with FORTINBRAS - he kills "20,000 men for a piece of straw"] - is it okay to kill in battle? For oneself? For the sake of others?
- [Could compare to Macbeth and his morals]
- Kills Polonius without a lot of thought
- Killing innocent people
- Hamlet thinks he has better morals than he does
- Thinking he's sacrificing his morality in order to avenge his father
- What are his morals?
- If Hamlet think killing is a sin, why does he send R&G to their death?
- [do people who are leaders have to be okay with killing? (even now?)
- Hamlet has already killed people by the time he sends R&G to their death - killing gets easier
- What about Gertrude and Claudius' marriage? Is it incest? Was it wrong for them to get married?
- [Claudius and Macbeth kill for the same reason - but the women are different]
- People marry for lust, wealth, power (not just love)
- Gertrude must have known something had happened [although the ghost does point out the "amazement" that sits upon her brow]
- Claudius and Gertrude are self-serving
- Hamlet feels like he's serving his father [what about FORTINBRAS? What about Laertes?]
- Do people with higher status have to follow the same morals as people with lower status? [look at today - do rich or famous people follow the same principles - compare Obama's morality with Trump's - if Obama had married three different women and had kids with each - would he have been elected?]

Reality vs. Illusion

- Ghost - is he a metaphor - moral illusion or sin illusion
- In the end - is the ghost from the devil?
- Did his father go to hell?
- [what about when Hamlet sees the ghost in his mother's "closet"?]
- The ghost mentions something about purgatory - also he was killed "full of bread"
- At the beginning everyone sees the ghost - in the end - only Hamlet sees the ghost - also work clothes vs. houseclothes
- Is Hamlet insane or not: "I am mad but north by northwest… I know a hawk from a handsaw" (II ii 381) - he admits that he controls it - says "antic disposition - not insane at the beginning - as he acts mad, he becomes mad
- Fake it until you make it - acting mad does seem to make Hamlet mad - we can see his acting with Polonius
- [is he actually mad when he talks to Ophelia? - look at III i, - he talks about "God hath given you one face and you make yourself another"]
- Is he actually mad when he goes dishevelled into Ophelia's "closet"
- Illusions about females: "frailty thy name is woman!"
- Objectification of women blurs - Hamlet takes this a step further - it's personal ("incestuous sheets", "get thee to a nunnery"
- Does anyone follow Polonius' advice? "to thine own self be true" I iii
- The spying - if you think of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - everyone seems to be overhearing everyone else
- Claudius uses deception with every person - seems to care about Polonius, but does not; seems concerned for Hamlet's safety, seems to care about Gertrude's feelings
- Gertrude's feelings about Hamlet? Genuine or not (Look at bedroom scene III iv) - very upset
- [Right after that she says that Hamlet is mad to Claudius (but then in V i, when talking to Laertes, she says that Claudius did not kill Polonius "but not by him)]
- Gertrude - passive character?
- "I know not seems" I ii 75
- Characters are always trying to figure out what the characters are thinking or what their motivations are [this ties into our lives - do we know how others perceive us?]
- [play within a play]
- Being conscious or not conscious
- People see or hear the things they want to [eg. Polonius thinks all of Hamlet's madness ties in with his daughter]
- [we all have filters we see things through]
- Claudius assumes that if he asks God to forgive him, it can happen [III iii, we know he has to truly ask for forgiveness; Hamlet's illusion is that Claudius is praying - misconceptions]
- Are morals an illusion?
- Putting your morals over someone else's life

-isn't it justified to kill because that person killed?

Honour

- Is Hamlet's honour in question (I v - "I was born to set it right")
- "revenge my foul and most unnatural murder" I v
- "Laertes, was your father dear to you?" (IV vii)
- Hamlet feels like he has to avenge for his emotion
- Manipulation - Claudius manipulates Laertes by using his honour
- FORTINBRAS - "20,000 men," "sharking up a list of lawless resolutes" (I i 98)
- Honour is often used as a scapegoat for political reasons - Laertes says he wants to kill Hamlet for his honour - but it's really because he's mad
- Honour is used as an excuse for actions (like revenge)
- [what about Gertrude, Claudius - are they honourable?]
- Is it honourable for Hamlet to go against his religion? (the Bible says not to kill, and Hamlet is Catholic)
- People justify killing [A Time to Kill - John Grisham book is about a father who kills men who rape and murder his 10 year old daughter]
- [who is honourable in this play? Horatio? Fortinbras? Laertes?]
- Stabs a curtain because he's angry - is this honourable? ("almost as bad as killing your husband and marrying your brother" III iv
- Seems like anyone with everyone seems to have died from a grudge Hamlet has: Claudius, Gertrude, R & G, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia
- What if Hamlet seeks no vengeance at all - he believes the ghost is a figment of his imagination, or it's from Hell [there is such a thing called the "Do Nothing Principle" - most people don’t want to "do nothing" because it looks bad - studies have shown that soccer goalies during penalty kicks would save more goals by not diving and staying in the center, but this looks bad, so they choose a side and heroically dive]
- Ophelia's suicide
- I v 31-37 - Hamlet already wanted to avenge his father's death - then seemed to find it hard - because Claudius is the king, because he's related? Because Claudius is scary? Is it honourable to kill a king?
- It's honourable for Macbeth to kill on the battle field - but not honourable to kill Duncan
- Emotion gets in the way - personal issues with Claudius and his mother
- Seems logical to wait until Claudius does go to Hell - he feels like "I, his sole son send his soul to Heaven" III iii
- Mother holds him back from killing Claudius somewhat

Big advice: look at the soliloquies if your focus is on Hamlet

What are some interesting questions for the play itself? For example, what importance does Ophelia's virginity play (this could be morality, reality vs. illusion or honour!)

Lit 12 - Janl. 4

FISHBOWL: Thurs. Jan. 5
IN-CLASS ESSAY: Fri. Jan. 6

PERSONAL ESSAY: Fri. Jan. 13

Eng. 11 - HOW TO DO WELL ON THE SCOTTISH PLAY TEST

#1 study tip ... STUDY!

10 marks = character questions
15 marks = plot questions
15 marks = paragraph questions
5 marks = dramatic devices
25 marks = identify and explain quotes

TOTAL = 70 marks

Best ways to study: go over your questions and dramatic devices sheet. (I will not directly test on Aristotelian terms of tragedy) go through the play and pick out important quotes. Think about how they add to either characterization or structure of the play. Think about each character and what he/she contributes to the play.

Important Tip: After studying by yourself, study with a partner to test each other on quotes.

Writing 12 - Jan. 3 - Final Due Dates

One Act Plays: due Jan. 4
Workshoppers: Oscar, Kullin, Chris S

Children's books due: Jan.17

Your Choice Assignment: Jan. 19

Interviews for Commonplace Books: Jan. 16, 18, 19